HP CEO Meg Whitman didn't exactly explain what caused the company to release its quarterly earnings report early, while the stock market was still open. But she did clarify that it was a mistake.

She told analysts on the company conference call:

Before we go to questions, I'm sure you all noticed that earlier today, the HP press release with earnings went live before the appropriate time and we are sorry about that, and we'll make sure that that doesn't happen again.

The earnings press release wasn't entirely good news. While HP met its expected earnings per share target, of 88 cents, it missed on revenues. The $27.3 billion it reported was a -1% year-over-year decline, and $110 million below what analysts were looking for, $27.41 billion.

Investors saw the news and the stock price dropped about 2% during trading hours, to under $32. It had been trading as high as $33.36 today.